As the school year comes to the end, for my students that means it is crunch time. Yesterday, the sophomores finished TKAM, the seniors wrapped up Tuesdays with Morrie, and the juniors turned in their rough drafts. While that's all fine and good - for me it means the end!
Due to an interview, I missed my last class ever with my seniors! Aghhh! It makes me so sad, but I hope that they enjoyed our time together - AND created 10 life lessons that I can pass on to the other students.
Second, the sophomores, who have been struggling through TKAM really impressed me yesterday with our socratic seminar. They all seemed engaged and motivated to discuss the book. We started with small details, but able to connect it to larger themes - great prep for the test they will be taking next week. Now, they get to enjoy the movie before we wrap up with final exams :)
My poor juniors are still working diligently on their research paper, but they are finally seeing it all come together. I am really proud of their work and was highly impressed with the focus. They have really approached the paper with the seriousness that I had hoped - can't wait to check out the progress tonight.
And to celebrate my own success, I am finally feeling some love from the employment world! I have not yet gotten a job for next year but (YAY) I am feeling lucky and starting to hear things from schools - SUCH a better feeling than nothing.
Friday down, One more week (and a day) to GO!
Due to an interview, I missed my last class ever with my seniors! Aghhh! It makes me so sad, but I hope that they enjoyed our time together - AND created 10 life lessons that I can pass on to the other students.
Second, the sophomores, who have been struggling through TKAM really impressed me yesterday with our socratic seminar. They all seemed engaged and motivated to discuss the book. We started with small details, but able to connect it to larger themes - great prep for the test they will be taking next week. Now, they get to enjoy the movie before we wrap up with final exams :)
My poor juniors are still working diligently on their research paper, but they are finally seeing it all come together. I am really proud of their work and was highly impressed with the focus. They have really approached the paper with the seriousness that I had hoped - can't wait to check out the progress tonight.
And to celebrate my own success, I am finally feeling some love from the employment world! I have not yet gotten a job for next year but (YAY) I am feeling lucky and starting to hear things from schools - SUCH a better feeling than nothing.
Friday down, One more week (and a day) to GO!
However, before I wrap up, I want to reflect on each of these experiences. Without doing so, I know I will do these students, and my future students (still searching for you!) a disservice.
My revamped idea for the backchannel discussion (via TodaysMeet) still "sort of" flopped . I think it went better and worse in different ways. I MADE THE GROUPS TOO SMALL - ughhh. Such a small error that really impacted the flow of discussions. Basically, last time there was too many responses to keep up with - this time not enough. The magic number must be around 10 students per room.
Overall, it was a great learning experience - definitely hope I can revitalize it in the future.
My revamped idea for the backchannel discussion (via TodaysMeet) still "sort of" flopped . I think it went better and worse in different ways. I MADE THE GROUPS TOO SMALL - ughhh. Such a small error that really impacted the flow of discussions. Basically, last time there was too many responses to keep up with - this time not enough. The magic number must be around 10 students per room.
Overall, it was a great learning experience - definitely hope I can revitalize it in the future.